Tekoa

Abstract

"A host of literary associations cluster around the ancient site of Tekoa, which is located in the edge of the Judean Wilderness, a few miles to the southeast of Bethlehem. These may be roughly subsumed under three headings, viz., the Biblical period, the time of the Jewish wars, and the Christian era till the twelfth century A.D. Its written history begins with the period of the Conquest, in which it is noted that Ashur, Caleb's half-brother, was the father, i.e., the founder, of Tekoa.' Various documents from the period of the Maccabees, and of Bar Kochba, mention the part it played in those troublous times, but by far the largest extant material is from the pens of Josephus, Jerome, Eusebius, Paula, and more recent pilgrims and visitors, as Conder, Pococke, Wilson, Robinson, and Fosdick"